Knock-off Toe Shoes: Update on Counterfeit (Fake) Five Fingers

The above images depict typical stock imagery seen on counterfeit Vibram Five Fingers websites. These are fakes!

The proliferation of counterfeit Vibram Five Fingers was first reported here on Birthday Shoes back in early April 2010. It's now about three months later, and though Vibram has and is taking public measures to combat the proliferation of these counterfeit toe shoes, it seems they are still as rampant as ever.

The Google problem

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of the proliferation of these fake sites is how widespread they have become in Google search results. Out of the top 10 Google search results for the search vibram five fingers, a whopping seven will send you to fake toe shoes retailers. By my last count, out of the top 50, 37 of the results were to fake retailers!

Just to visualize the problem, check this screen capture below (right click, open in new window to enlarge) displaying what you'd see on a search for Vibram Five Fingers:

Here's a screen capture of Google on 6.30.2010. Note that counterfeit online retailers are using Google Sponsored Links to advertise their fakes. These fraudulent advertisers are being removed (it seems), but it's not always immediate. The normal Google Search results, unfortunately, are littered with retailers of fake Vibram Five Fingers, so I suggest clicking "Fewer shopping sites" to remove the bulk of the offenders from the search results!

Three things are worth noting here. The first is with regard to the aforementioned organic or natural results: once you get below the top two vibramfivefingers.com results, you'll find six fake retailers and one legit retailer (KayakShed). The second thing to note is that the fake retailers are trying to pay their way onto these search results using Google Adwords — see the "Sponsored Links" sections and though you'll find legit retailers, the fakes are there, too. Third, note the link on the leftmost column named "Fewer shopping sites." You can click this link to strip the organic search results of retailers and whittle the results down to relevant reviews, etc.

No doubt this will go a long way to helping alert buyers of Vibram Five Fingers to the problem, and hopefully, fewer people will be duped into buying knock-off toe shoes.

Vibram is also actively going after these fraudsters. In a section on the counterfeits titled We're Fighting Back Vibram writes, "We are working with the relevant authorities to shut down all fraudulent Web sellers of 'FiveFingers,' including Web sites, online auction sites, etc. We will continue to coordinate with Customs officials worldwide to stop the proliferation of these counterfeits and eradicate their distribution."

Just last week, SNEWS, an outdoor and fitness industry publication, published an article on Vibram's plight titled Vibram FiveFingers counterfeiters, fake websites popping up faster than in Whac-A-Mole (link - subscription required). The article speaks to the general problem, but also has information directly from Vibram USA CEO Tony Post. Here's a blurb:

For Vibram, it’s less about the cost (it adds up to about $3,000 each time the company has to take legal action to shut down a fake website, Post said) than about the potential damage to the brand and to the FiveFingers reputation. In addition, the company is afraid somebody will have a bad experience with a shoe that falls apart and will then tell dozens of friends who will tell dozens more.

“That’s more concerning than lost sales,” Post said about the bad word being spread. “If the consumer thought this was the FiveFingers product and it was a piece of crap, and they tell 20 people or more people and maybe blog about it too, it’s very harmful.”

Tony Post went on to say, “They’re like bunnies, the websites ... they multiply faster than you can catch them ... You shut down one counterfeit website, and it pops up again down the street."

Therein lies the big problem for Vibram: while it costs these fraudsters very little to set up a fake retail site, it costs Vibram $3,000 to go through the legal hoops to take the fake sites down! $3,000 times 175+ websites is a lot of money. Talk about a mess of a problem!

That said, the long-run solution is to educate buyers of Vibram Five Fingers about the existence of fakes so that no one is conned into buying inferior product.

If you're looking to buy authentic Vibram Five Fingers from legit online retailers, what are your options?

The most surefire way to find an authentic retailer of Vibram Five Fingers is to buy local via finding a retailer on Vibram's store locator. That said, if your local retailer is low on stock, try consulting the Birthday Shoes list of online retailers of Vibram Five Fingers. Though the Birthday Shoes list of Vibram online retailers isn't all-inclusive, it includes most of the big names like City Sports, Travel Country, Kayak Shed, and REI (And you read and write customer feedback on these stores at each of their pages!).

If you're hell-bent on scouring the web for a legit retailer, be prepared to find a lot of fraudsters, which means you need to arm yourself with information so that you don't get duped. For that reason, here are some simple, bright-line rules to follow:

Don't buy on ebay.

Though there are legit ebay sellers of VFFs, they're only going to be individuals who are selling a one-off pair and not holding multiple auctions of VFFs! Vibram expressly forbids retailers from selling VFFs on ebay!

Don't buy from websites that have "five finger(s)," "vibram," "barefoot," "toe," "mbt" or any variation thereof in their domain names.

VibramFiveFingers.com (correctly spelled just like that) is legit. There are also a couple international sites that Vibram has that are also legit. These are exceptions! You should be immediately suspicious of any online retailer that is clearly set up to sell only Vibram Five Fingers online! Vibram does not allow anyone to sell FiveFingers if they do not have a brick and mortar presence! If you find an online retailer you're nervous about, look for and find the physical address of the retailer and use the aformentioned Vibram store locator to confirm their legitimacy!

* Just because a site uses stock imagery to list their fakes doesn't mean you'll receive stock-looking Vibram Five Fingers! Anyone can copy and republish images on the web! Remember, you are activtely being conned by these fraudsters, so if you order what appear to be KSO Treks from a fake retailer, prepare to be massively disappointed when you (if you) get them.

Why this matters!

Simply put: sellers of knock-off Five Fingers are actively trying to deceive people into buying counterfeit merchandise. These counterfeits not only aren't as good as the real deal (all quality control arguments considered), but they come with no warranty or recourse. If you knowingly support counterfeiters on the Internet, you may think "What's the harm? I know I'm buying fakes — it's my decision." And while you have the right to do what you want, just know that supporting these fraudsters enables them to sell to others who don't know they are buying fakes.

About the Author — I founded BirthdayShoes.com in April 2009 on realizing just how much I enjoyed having "free feet" - I mostly wanted to use them for weights, sprints, and plyometrics (I'm not much of a runner!). I'm a Googler by day and minimalist footwear aficionado by night; you can find me 'round Atlanta. If you want to catch up with what I'm doing outside of the site here, follow me on twitter @bdayshoes or @justinno or check out my personal site JustinOwings.com.Justin+ has written 893 articles and 426 comments.

23 comments

Unfortunately, I have read more and more posts on the Vibram Facebook fan page where people say that they are / will buy knock-offs because they can't find the legitimate VFF's in the style/size/color they want. They'd rather buy a fake than wait or search for the real deal. Of course, this is TOTALLY stupid on their part and will most likely result in disappointment for the buyer, but it is an issue. People even post pics of their fakes and say "look at my new VFF's!" (I've seen this on 2 occasions.

While Vibram is trying to put up a list of legit dealers on their site, it is totally useless, and only mentions the import companies. It cannot be too hard to compose a list of legit internet VFF-vendors that people can use. Surely they know who they are selling their stock? Inviting their legit business partners to communicate a link to their site is easy! All this should take no more than a few days work, and people could comfortably pick a vendor of their choice.

I would think Vibram would encourage the production of knock-offs and only get upset when their logo were used illegally. The more folks wearing shoes with toes around, whether they be legitimate VFFs bear some sort of "Vibran" logo, the more people will see them and get interested. Knock-offs are the backbone of trends.

Keep in mind you can report any ebay fakes by selecting the "report item" link in the auction. if you happen to be trolling ebay for something, take a few moments and report the obvious fakes. Enough reports and Ebay will close the accounts of the counterfeiters.

@gary,
i live in miami fl and had to drive to west palm beach to get a pair of bikilas for my girlfriend and i. i actually had to return mine to get a slightly larger size. they are hard to find, but if you look around you'll find some. i got mine at fit 2 run http://www.fit2run.com/

I am in Vancouver Canada, and I got the bikila from CitySport online. Even the old vibram KSO are extremely hard to find in local MEC store. I wouldn't recommend ordering online unless you know your size.

I agree that much of this is a beast of Vibram's own creation. Sometimes allowing one's popularity to outstrip your production is not a smart move. As much as it would have sucked, they might have been better off waiting to release something like the Bikila only when/if they had the production to meet the demand they knew was there.

I agree about production in China. No offense to any Chinese nationals, but in the economic world, China SUCKS. I mean REALLY REALLY sucks. Almost all of the counterfeit goods on the market are made in China, often on the very machines that are used to make the legitimate product. Sure, its cheap to produce there... but cheap is the operative word. Chinese law does nothing to protect copyrights.

What annoys me is that a) VFFs are an Italian design yet we in Europe have to pay through the nose for them. While the price is so high over here, people will buy knock-offs (not me, though). b) Vibram's website is not up to date with suppliers. It has only just put up a proper list of countries outside just the handful it originally listed where you can find legitimate retailers, but even this list isn't complete. The shop where I got my second pair isn't listed and I know they're legitimate. It drives me bonkers. Vibram need to do more to help the customers.

So, my question is: what's so special about VFF's? I have a pair, but I'm not wedded to the brand. If someone else makes a better shoe, or a similar shoe for a lot less $$, why should I stick with VFF's?

It isn't a cult, is it? It's a shoe. And so what if there are fake shoes, especially if they cost half as much.

There's really a world of difference between real competition and counterfeit merchandise being pawned off as the authentic merchandise. The former is better for all interested in the product as it spurs innovations, higher quality, lower prices, etc. That latter actively deceives people -- as in, there are many people who want to buy legitimate product, think they are buying legitimate product, but are actually buying fakes.

In other words, this matters insomuch as supporting fraudsters increases the occurrence of individuals being defrauded. I, for one, don't like the idea of duping other people, but I also don't like supporting institutions that dupe other people.

I agree, if somebody can make it cheaper legally it drives down the price, but this isn't always good. In the pharmaceuticals business they allow the company who developed something to have a temporary legal monopoly just to recoup costs and keep them innovating.

If you really do like a product see it as an investment in an innovative, customer caring company. Counterfeits can't counterfeit anymore if there are no new products hitting the market for them to mass produce (kinetic studies, research etc. probably done by VFF).

You are not nor should you be married to the brand. However if a competitor wants to offer a product to compete they need to name / market and r&d it themselves. All this knock off does is Vibram and discredits all the retailers who sell the real deal.

I want to buy KSO's but this is really hard and confusing. I was about to buy one from an online seller, but looking at the vibramfivefingers.com website and some pictures posted from here, there are many confusing details.

For example in KSO, where should the vibram branding should be? I found some pictures showing it in both pairs near the big toe, others on the left only and some on the right only. So could you please enlighten me which is which? :(

« 2015 shoe reviews »

« 2014 shoe reviews »

« 2013 shoe reviews »

where to buy

Older reviews

Note: This site is not owned, operated, or otherwise affiliated with Vibram or Vibram FiveFingers. The site is intended for entertainment purposes only. Per FTC regulation, it should be assumed that products reviewed on BirthdayShoes were provided to the blogger(s) for free or at discounted cost. Though this is certainly not always the case, we'd rather be in compliance with FTC rules & regulations governing bloggers and product reviews under the assumed "most biased" letter of the law. That said, if it's not immediately obvious, this site is a fan site for minimalist footwear such as Vibram Five Fingers, which is to say that there is a stated bias in favor of these products. Despite our stated bias, between the hundreds of user-submitted stories, the thousands of forum posts (both positive and negative, warts and all!), and the in-depth resources and guides, we do our best to provide in depth information on all products reviewed. In the end, though we strive to be a helpful resource and believe in integrity and honesty, we expect you to do your part — reading the research and making educated decisions (Read: take responsibility for your actions!). We have also passed on reviewing products (not VFFs per se) that were provided to us for free but did not "cut the mustard." If you have any questions about this disclaimer, please contact us!